Four points races, four different winners. That speaks to the competitiveness of the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series, where Christopher Bell added his name to the list last weekend following a win in the second Duel at Daytona last month. The series leaves the West Coast and heads to Tennessee for Sunday's Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway, where Bell is also the defending champion. However, this year's race will have a distinctly different feel with it being held on the track's concrete surface rather than the dirt that covered it for the past three spring races. "I love racing at Bristol," Bell said. "It's literally my favorite race on the schedule. I'm very thankful we get to go twice this year. It's been a track we have excelled at the last couple of times we have been there — we've been close. "Having a versatile car is the key to a good run at Bristol. We know the bottom will be good because they are spraying the resin (traction compound) down, and we know the top is going to come in at some point, so you have to have a car that can really run both places." Our motorracing experts preview the race at the "World's Fastest Half-Mile," and provide their best bets along with a longshot pick to keep an eye on this weekend. FOOD CITY 500 Location: Bristol Motor Speedway, Bristol, Tenn. Date: Sunday, March 17, 3:30 p.m. ET Distance: 500 laps, 266.5 miles on 0.533-mile track Defending champion: William Byron Cup Series leader: Ryan Blaney TV: FOX Radio: SiriusXM NASCAR Radio BEST BETS Christopher Bell (+400 at BetMGM) In addition to being the defending champion, Bell has finished third and fourth in his past two Bristol Night Races. He's second at the sportsbook with 10.7 percent of the total money wagered backing him to repeat. Bell is tied with Kyle Larson with three stage wins at Bristol in the Next Gen car. Denny Hamlin (+525) The winner of last year's Bristol Night Race has three career victories at the track, tied with Brad Keselowski for the second most among active drivers. Hamlin is looking to get back to Victory Lane for the first time since the Busch Light Clash at the Coliseum to open the 2024 season. "As a purist, I love seeing this race back on the concrete," said Hamlin, who leads the field with 12.7 percent of the money backing him to win. "Obviously, as the last guy that won there, it's going to be good to go back there and kind of test what this car wants compared to what we had in the past. "We're going to have to tweak on it, but we feel like we've got a good base setup with what we had last year." Kyle Larson (+550) Larson won just two weeks ago in Las Vegas and remains second in the standings heading to Bristol, where he won the Night Race three years ago en route to the championship. He's also tied with Bell for three stage wins at the track in the Next Gen car while leading nearly 800 laps in his last nine Bristol starts. Ryan Blaney (+1000) After opening at +1400, Blaney's odds dipped as low as +900 while being backed by the most total bets in the field with 12.1 percent. He's also third in total money backing him to win at 10.1 percent, making Blaney the book's biggest liability this week. Kyle Busch (+1200) He's the leading active driver by a large margin with eight career Bristol victories. However, Busch's most recent short track victory came back in the spring of 2019 while with Joe Gibbs Racing. Typically popular with the public, Busch is the second biggest liability this week while being backed by 6.7 percent of the total bets on the race winner. LONGSHOT PICK Brad Keselowski (+1400) Keselowski won the most recent Bristol spring race on concrete back in 2020, when he ran from the pole. He hasn't won a Cup Series race in nearly three years, a drought that has lasted 102 races and spanned his move from Team Penske to RFK Racing. He does have three career wins at Bristol, and Keselowski is third with 6.5 percent of the total bets backing him this week. —Field Level Media Relatedbetting websitesbest new sportsbookstop sports betting applive bettingwatch sport livebet on sports cash out
Related Posts
A disappointed Germany coach Joachim Low lamented his team s carelessness after a shock 2-0 loss to Poland on Saturday.
The world champions fell to second-half goals from Arkadiusz Milik and Sebastian Mila to suffer their first defeat in 19 competitive matches, stretching back to Euro 2012.
It was also the first time Germany had lost to Poland since the unification and their first time they tasted defeat in a qualifying match since October 2007.
Low lamented his team s wastefulness during the Euro 2016 qualifying clash, but is eager to move on.
Obviously, we re disappointed. To be honest, I can t blame my team for much, maybe only that we were too careless with our chances, he said.
The way we played was fine; we created a lot of opportunities t…
0000106D
pos has revealed the Portuguese side are on the verge of signing Manchester United forward Bebe on loan.
The 22-year-old has yet to make an appearance for Sir Alex Ferguson s side this season after spending last term on loan at Turkish club Besiktas where he suffered a cruciate ligament injury.
Bebe has struggled to cement a place at United following his 7.4-million pound switch in August 2010 and is now on the verge of heading back to his homeland in order to get more playing time.
He (Bebe) is one of the players who should be just hours away from joining, but there are still some details left to address, Campos told Bola Branca.
His signing could be announced very shortly.
…
Bayern Munich will discuss terms with Wolfsburg over the sale of midfielder Luiz Gustavo, according to CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge.
The 26-year-old, who joined the Bundesliga champions from Hoffenheim in 2011, is likely to face stiff competition for his place next season under Pep Guardiola.
As well as new signings Thiago Alcantara and Mario Goetze, the Brazilian will also see the likes of Javi Martinez and Bastian Schweinsteiger vying for a central midfield berth.
The player himself admitted recently he would consider leaving the Allianz Arena for regular first-team football and Rummenigge has now confirmed the club would also entertain the idea of a sale.
If Wolfsburg agrees personal terms with Gustavo, we will then negotiate, he told Kicker.
If Luiz leav…
Leonid Kuchuk has returned to Kuban Krasnodar after being appointed as the Russian club s coach for the second time.
Kuchuk was reappointed on Monday as a replacement for Viktor Goncharenko, who parted company with the club last Thursday.
The 55-year-old Belarusian was previously in charge at Kuban for the second half of the 2012-13 campaign, guiding them to fifth place in the top flight and UEFA Europa League qualification.
Following that successful spell, Kuchuk switched to Lokomotiv Moscow but was removed from his post in September with the capital club languishing in ninth in the table after finishing third last term.
Along with the poor performances on the field, a breakdown in relationship between Kuchuk and his players was one of the reason for his…
Exasperated Wolves captain Conor Coady declared VAR is not working after his side were on the wrong end of two decisions in a 1-0 Premier League defeat to Liverpool at Anfield.
Sadio Mane s decisive goal in the first half was ultimately awarded following a VAR review, with referee Anthony Taylor having initially penalised Adam Lallana for handball in the build-up.
However, Wolves, who had a goal of their own disallowed for offside shortly after Mane s strike, were adamant Virgil van Dijk had got away with a handball of his own before lofting a pass forward to Lallana.
Decisions are killing us, it s constantly against us, Coady, who also felt Wolves were hard done by in their 3-2 win over Manchester City on Friday, told Sky Sports. It s ridiculous. People ta…
Perth Glory will end 2019 in third place in the A-League after a 3-0 victory away to Central Coast Mariners on Tuesday.
Diego Castro was the inspiration, scoring once and assisting another, as Tony Popovic s side coped better with the difficult conditions to claim a fourth win in a row.
The Mariners hit the post inside the first minute through Daniel De Silva, but chances were scarce in a first half affected by strong winds and concerns over air quality as a result of the New South Wales bush fires.
Castro broke the deadlock in first-half injury time, though, rifling a half-volley through a crowded box and into the bottom-left corner from 18 yards out.
Perth struck again three minutes after the restart when Joel Chianese headed in James Meredith s cross,…
AS Roma president Rosella Sensi hit out at referee Roberto Rosetti after her team were beaten 2-1 at AC Milan, in no small part thanks to a controversial penalty.
The visitors to the San Siro led 1-0 after a swashbuckling first-half performance but that all changed when Rosetti awarded Milan a penalty after Alessandro Nesta tumbled in the box.
Television replays showed Nicolas Burdisso won the ball, even though he did challenge Nesta from behind and the former Italy centre-back s subsequent fall was clearly exaggerated, if even completely unnecessary.
Roma s players were fuming about the penalty, dispatched by Ronaldinho, and after Pato s winner Sensi s mood was even darker.
While Rosetti is an excellent international referee, he makes too many mistakes…
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta concedes it is still too early to determine if William Saliba will be able to feature again this season.
The France centre-back has been absent for all of Arsenal s past four matches after sustaining a back injury in the first half of the Europa League last-16 second-leg draw with Sporting CP last month, which resulted in the Gunners elimination on penalties.
There had been hope Saliba s recovery was advanced when seen on an exercise bike at training earlier this week, but it would appear such optimism was misjudged.
Saliba will definitely not face Southampton at Emirates Stadium on Friday, and now it would seem there is a chance he does not play again this season for the Premier League leaders.
And with their lead over Manche…
Barcelona s Gerardo Martino is looking forward to experiencing the UEFA Champions League as a manager for the first time.
The 50-year-old joined the Spanish champions in the close-season, replacing Tito Vilanova, who resigned following a recurrence of throat cancer.
Martino has seen his side make a bright start to the season, winning all four La Liga fixtures, as they sit first in the table.
His charges now begin their quest to win the Champions League for the first time since 2011, and they will hope to improve on last season s disappointing 7-0 aggregate defeat to Bayern Munich in the semi-finals.
For every coach taking part in the Champions League is a very important part of their career, Martino said ahead of the side s opening Group A fixture with Ajax at Ca…
Chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge admits Bayern Munich have no back-up plan if coach Pep Guardiola decides to leave at the end of his contract.
Bayern Munich have no Plan B should coach Pep Guardiola decided to leave the club at the end of his current contract, according to chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge.
The Spaniard has 18 months left on his deal at the Allianz Arena after joining the Bavarians following their treble-winning 2012-13 campaign under Jupp Heynckes.
However, Rummenigge insisted last week that Bayern were in no hurry to open negotiations with Guardiola, who guided Bayern to success in the Bundesliga, DFB-Pokal, UEFA Super Cup and the FIFA Club World Cup in his first season in charge.
Despite being prepared to hold off on entering talks, R…